Li Xuefeng (; 19 January 1907 – 15 March 2003) was a Chinese politician. He occupied several prominent regional offices prior to the founding of the People's Republic in 1949. In 1960 he became the first political commissar of the Beijing Military Region. He took over the Beijing party organization as its First Secretary after the purge of

Peng Zhen Peng Zhen (pronounced ; October 12, 1902 – April 26, 1997) was a Chinese politician and leading member of the Chinese Communist Party. He led the party organization in Beijing following the victory of the Communists in the Chinese Civil War i ...

in May 1966, and was sent to take the reins of Hebei's Revolutionary Committee between 1968 and 1971. However, his support for

Chen Boda Chen Boda (; 29 July 1904 – 20 September 1989), was a Chinese Communist journalist, professor and political theorist who rose to power as the chief interpreter of Maoism (or "Mao Zedong Thought") in the first 20 years of the People's Republi ...

during the 1971 Lushan Conference led him to be branded as a supporter of

Lin Biao Lin Biao ( zh, 林彪; 5 December 1907 – 13 September 1971) was a Chinese politician and Marshal of the People's Republic of China who was pivotal in the Chinese Communist Party, Communist Chinese Communist Revolution, victory during the Chines ...

; he was purged and sent into internal exile in

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

province for eight years. He was politically rehabilitated in 1982, and went on to serve in several advisory positions in the party.

Biography

Li Xuefeng joined the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

in 1933 and served in several roles, like propaganda chief or organization chief in the Party committees of

Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

and

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

. Hebei and Henan were long under the

Zhili Zhili, alternately romanized as Chihli, was a northern administrative region of China since the 14th century that lasted through the Ming dynasty and Qing dynasty until 1911, when the region was dissolved, converted to a province, and renamed ...

Province before being split by the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

in 1928. In 1947, he was appointed deputy secretary of the "Central Plains Bureau" of the

Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, officially the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is the Central committee, highest organ when the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, national congress is not ...

, an office responsible for coordinating military efforts around the

Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...

, and concurrently deputy director of the Central Organization Department. In addition, in 1949 he was secretary of the CCP

Committee and political commissar of the Henan Military Region. After the establishment of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in 1949, Li was appointed head of the Organization Department of the Central-South China Bureau of the CCP Central Committee, as well as deputy secretary of the Bureau, and concurrently vice-chairman of the Central-South Administrative Council. In 1954 he was elevated to Deputy General Secretary of the Central Committee directly under

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping also Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Teng Hsiao-p'ing; born Xiansheng (). (22 August 190419 February 1997) was a Chinese statesman, revolutionary, and political theorist who served as the paramount leader of the People's R ...

, and head of the Transports and Communications Department in 1956. He was also a member of the

Standing Committee of the National People's Congress The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC) is the permanent body of the National People's Congress (NPC), the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. It exercises the powers of the NPC when it is not in s ...

from 1954 to 1963. He was elected a full member of the CCP Central Committee at the Eight National Congress held in 1956. In 1960 he was transferred to the posts of first secretary of the North China Bureau of the Central Committee and first political commissar of the

Beijing Military Region The Beijing Military Region was one of seven military regions for the Chinese People's Liberation Army. From the mid-1980s to 2017, it had administration of all military affairs within Beijing city, Tianjin city, Hebei province, Shanxi province, ...

. With the outburst of the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

, Li Xuefeng was seen as one of its early supporters. After

, Mayor of Beijing, was overthrown for opposing

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

over the course of the Cultural Revolution in May 1966, Li Xuefeng replaced him as first secretary of the CCP Beijing Committee, and in August he was promoted an alternate member of the CCP Politburo. His first acts as Party chief in Beijing were to dismiss the editorial boards of several local newspapers and the CCP committee in the University of Beijing, provisionally replacing it with a "work team" charged with providing political education to the students and pushing them to join the Cultural Revolution movement. His perceived low support for the

Red Guards The Red Guards () were a mass, student-led, paramilitary social movement mobilized by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 until their abolition in 1968, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a ...

and Mao's criticism towards the "work teams", thought to be harmful to the Cultural Revolution and the source of the students' inner fighting, led to Li's rapid downfall. In 1967, as both the Beijing Municipal Government and CCP Municipal Committee were reorganized in a Revolutionary Committee, Li was sent to

Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...

away from limelight. He resurfaced in February 1968, when he was appointed chairman of the Revolutionary Committee of

Hebei Province Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

; in April 1968, he was confirmed as an alternate member of the Politburo at the Ninth Congress of the CCP. In 1971, Li's support for

during the troublesome Second Plenary Session of the Ninth Central Committee held in Lushan in 1970 led him to be identified as a member of

's conspiracy against Mao, who called him one of Lin's "big generals". Thus, he was sent to confinement in

for eight years. The accusation of being part of Chen Boda's "anti-party clique" was confirmed in 1973 at the Party's Tenth Congress. Li Xuefeng was never expelled from the Party, and, despite his ambivalent attitude during the Cultural Revolution, he was rehabilitated in 1982. In June 1983, he was elected member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a post he had previously held from 1959 to 1965. He was also a member of the Central Advisory Committee. After having retired from political roles between the late 1980s and early 1990s, Li Xuefeng died in Beijing in 2003, aged 96.

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Xuefeng 1907 births 2003 deaths Chinese Communist Party politicians from Shanxi Delegates to the 7th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party Governors of Hebei Members of the Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party Members of the Standing Committee of the 1st National People's Congress Members of the Standing Committee of the 2nd National People's Congress Members of the Standing Committee of the 6th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference People of the Cultural Revolution People's Republic of China politicians from Shanxi Political office-holders in Beijing Politicians from Yuncheng Vice chairpersons of the National People's Congress Standing members of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Secretary of the CCP Beijing Municipal Committee

Biography

See also

References